Monday, December 21, 2009

Strategic Default Monitor...

I've been working with people regarding strategic default for years. Even though it seems to apply to real estate loans, it actually applies to any loan. Let me state my position right now: I believe that Strategic Defaults are an effective means of cash and wealth preservation. Of course before a decision can be made the benefits and risks must be made. It is our experience that after careful consideration of each persons' unique circumstances the rewards can outweigh the risks.

In any event I have decided to provide a link to the BEST strategic default articles all over the web. These articles best highlight the growing
phenomenon, the reward and the risk. You will learn the different perspectives and recognize that Strategic Default is here to stay.

For the next twelve months, I will provide up to date, relevant information about Strategic Defaults. If you want to learn more about it then this is the place to come. Also make sure you bookmark this link, there will be fresh updates:

An Honest Look At Homeowners Who Decide Not To Pay (Even Though They Have The Money) & The Real Risks. While looking at the real life decisions to Strategically Default, this article reminds those who decide to do it that there are risks. The biggest risk being that a lender can still sue for any deficiency if the property does not satisfy the entire debt. In fact, the same lender will probably sell the right to the deficiency to a third party. Read More from The Wall Street Journal: Debtor's Dilemma: Pay the Mortgage or Walk Away: In Down Real-Estate Market, Homeowners Are Deciding to Abandon Their Loan Obligations Even if They Can Afford the Payments

Morgan Stanleys Intentionally Defaults On A $6.5 billion Dollar Loan Obligation. When explaining the reason for a Strategic Default on 17 million square feet of office buildings acquired for $6.5 billion in 2007, a spokeswoman said “This isn’t a default or foreclosure situation...We are going to give them the properties to get out of the loan obligation.” Read More from Bloomberg: Morgan Stanley to Give Up 5 San Francisco Towers Bought at Peak

NYC Attorney Consults with Clients Who Intentionally Stop Paying Their Mortgage To Protect Their Savings Or To Make Money. NYC Attorney Augustine Diji advises his clients on how to property consider a strategic default. In some instances, his clients strategically default in order to make money. Read More from the Real Deal: Investors defaulting to make money, Some NY investors go into foreclosure on purpose

USA Today Reports on the Growing Trend of Strategic Default. This report begins with a recently laid off homeowner who decided NOT to use all of her savings to pay her mortgage. Instead she decided to stop because it did not make sense since her house was worth less than the mortgage. This continues to confirm that Strategic Default is a growing trend. Media, banks, and government officials are beginning to take notice. Read More from USA Today: More walk away from homes, mortgages

A Law Professor Effectively Argues Why It's in the Best Interest of A Homeowner To Strategically Default When Necessary and Not Feel Guilt or Shame. Brent White, an associate law professor at the University of Arizona has written the best and most comprehensive argument regarding Strategic Defaults. He strongly argues that property owners should make the decision on whether to continue mortgage payments based on their own interests that are “unclouded by unnecessary guilt or shame.” He says "strategic default might not only be a viable option, but also the wisest financial decision". He correctly points out that lenders do the same thing, when they “ruthlessly seek to maximize profits or minimize losses irrespective of concerns of morality or social responsibility.” So it's TIME FOR TO BE RUTHLESS ABOUT YOUR FINANCIAL CONCERNS. Read Brent Whites Paper: Underwater and Not Walking Away.

The Moral and Social Issues of Deciding NOT To Pay A Mortgage (Even If The Property Owner Can Afford Payments) Can Keep A Property Owner From Using A Strategic Default. This research paper explores the moral and society norms factor heavily when deciding to strategically default. Essentially, the researchers found there is a correlation between people who believe it is immoral to strategically default and amount of negative equity in their property. The greater the value of their property is below the mortgage balance, the more likelihood the property owner will use a strategic default. Read More from Luigi Guiso, Paola Spaienza, & Luigi Zingales, Moral and Social Constraints to Strategic Defaults on Mortgages

There Are Two Sides To The Strategic Default Coin.
This writer argues that "the greatest cause of the rise in mortgage defaulters is the gradual erosion of social and moral standards in a market where cheating became common and a loan nothing more than a financial strategy to be discarded at the first sign that it no longer made sense." Huh!!!?!!. I am unabashedly in favor of strategic default. However, the arguments on both side are very important and very serious. You should never take anything for granted when considering the implications of a strategic default. Mortgage Deadbeats Plague Home Market by Steven Malanga.

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